Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 10 — page 16: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

- = > =< —— = ee a ee ee eee —_ —.- = : nm . . . ~ v Hie _ ———s —— _-_— 16 ) ——_— ——— which necessarily led to my inquiring for my wife. I was told that my father had for some time received her at his house, but that her conduct was so scandalous, that she had been disgracefully expelled thence; and that for some time nothing had been heard of her, and they had ceased to trouble themselves concerning her. {[ gave myself no care about her, for I had matters of much greater import which demanded attention. I might be discovered at any moment; and i na Seat peg at my parents’ house, they would be involved in difficulties. It was imperative on me to find an asylum where the vigilance of the police was not so active as at Arras, and I threw my eyes upon a village in the vicinity, Amber- court, where there resided a quondam Carmelite friar, a friend of m father, who agreed to receive me. At this period (1798) priests were compelled still to say mass in secret, although direct hostilities towards them had ceased. Father Lambert, my host, celebrated his divine functions in a barn; and as he had no assistance but from an old man, feeble and impotent, I offered to fulfill the duties of sacristan, which I did so satisfactorily that one would have supposed it had been my calling all the days of 13 existence, I also became Father Lambert's assist- ant in giving lessons to the children of the neighbor- hood. skill in teaching made some noise in the dis- trict, for | had taken an excellent method to advance my pupils rapidly; I traced the letters with a lead pencil, which they wrote over with the pen, and the indian-rubber effected the rest, The parents were delighted; only it was rather difficult for my scholars to perform without their master; but the Artesian peasants, however cunnin in the common transactions of business, were goo enough not to find this ont. s sort of life was rather agreeable to me, Clothed as a wandering friar, and tolerated by the authorities, I had no fear of detection or suspicion: on the other hand, ay animal tastes, which I have always held in due con- sideration, were well supplied, the ay sending us perpetually beer, poultry, and fruit. I had in my classes some pretty peasant girls, who were very teachable, All went on well for some time, but at length a distrust of me was evinced; I was watched, and it was discovered that I Sn my instructions occasionally rather too far, and complaint was made to father Lambert, who told me of the charges against me, which I stoutly denied. The complainants were silenced, but redoubled their vigilance; and one night, when, impelled by classic zeal, I was about wpe a lesson ina hay-loft to a female scholar about en years of age, 1 was seized by four brewers’ men dragged intoa moe rests stripped of my clothes, and scourged, till the blood flowed copiously, with rods of nettles and thistles. The pain was so acute, that I lost my senses, and on reviving, found myself in the streets, naked, and covered with blisters and blood. What wastobe done? To return to father Lambert would be to incur fresh dangers. The night was not much advanced, and although eaten up with excess of fever, I determined to go on to Marenil, to an uncle's house, and arrived there at two o’clock in the morning, worn out with fatigue, and only covered with a ragged mat which [had found near a pond, After having laughed unsparingly at my mishap, saa rubbed 4 body all over with cream mixed with oil; and at the end of eight days I set out quite well for A but it was impossible for The iti me to remain there. ce might get information at some unlucky moment that I was there, and I there- fore decided on starting for Holland, and fixing myself there, taking with me a supply of revert which enabled me to remain at my ease until something should occur that would employ me usefully. I passed through Brussels (where I learnt that the baroness d’I had settled in London), Anvers, and Breda, and then embarked for Rotterdam, in which city I put up at an inn that had been specially recommended tome. I there met witha Frenchman who was remark- ably attentive and civil to me, and frequently invited me to dinner. I received all his advances with mistrust, knowing that all means were resorted to by the Dutch government to recruit their navy. In spite of all m caution, my companion contrived to intoxicate me wit a particular liquor, and on the next morning I awoke on board a Dutch brig of war. All doubt was at an end; ——r had given meup asa prey to the “ sellers of souls,” Lying near the shrouds, I was reflecting on my singular destiny, which multiplied so many incidents of my way- ward career, when one of the crew, pushing me with his foot, desired me to rise and get on my sailor's clothes, [ pretended not to understand sim, and then the boat- swain gave me the same ordersin French. On my replying that I was nota sailor, since | had signed no agreement, he seized a pope's end to strike me with; on which, | grasped a knife belonging to agsailor, who was breakfasting at the foot of the main-mast, and, ering my back against a gun, I swore I would rip up first man who should assault me. This occasioned much disturbance in the ship, and brought up the captain, who was a man about forty, of good appearance, and whose manners were free from that coarseness so usual with seafari ple. He listened to me with kindness, which was ee coala do, for it was not in his power to change the maritime organi- zation of his goverament. We had then on board men whose inclinations and habits of life were so totally foreign from naval service, that the very idea of compelling them to enter it was omen diculous, Of the two hundred individuals like myself, there were not perhaps twenty who ever set foot on shipboard before. The majority had been carried off by main force, or trepanned by drunken- ness: they had —<— others by a promise of a free assage to Batavia, where they wished to settle; amongst hese were two Frenchmen, one a book-keeper from s gundy, and the other a gardener of Lemosin, who, it is evident, were admirably calculated to make sailors. To console us, the érew told us that, for fear of desertion, we should not go ashore for six months. To me, who had so long intended to enter the navy, the situation was not so repugnant, if I had not been con- struined toit, and if [had not had in tive the slavery which threatened me; added to which, was the ill-treat- ment of the boatswain, who could not forgive a first essay with him. On the least false manceuvre or mistake, the rope’s end descended on my back in a style so gi mentative and convincing, that I even regretted the cudgel of the galley-sergeant at the Bagne. I was in despair, and twenty times resolved to let fall from the maintop a wooden eg: Age the head of my tormentor, or else to fling him in sea when I was on the watch, should certainly have done one or the other of these, if the lieutenant, who had taken a liking to me because I taught him to fence, had notin some measure alleviated my sufferings. Bouces, we were forthwith going to Helvoetelays, where the Heindrack lay, of whose crew we = ~~ > . =~ oe - + .* 7 ; —_—— _ a —~ - —_ ae See — Sea ee. ees oe ee—=— Tt _— The New York Library. were to form a part, and in the passage an escape might be effected. The day of transhipment came, and we embarked, to the number of two hundred and seventy, in a small sloop, manned by twenty-five sailors, and with twenty-five sol- diers to guard us. The weakness of this detachment determined me to attempt to disarm the soldiers and compel the sailors to conduct us to Anvers. One hundred and twenty of the recruits, French and Belgians, entered into the plot, and we resolved on surprising the men on guard at the moment their comrades were at dinner, whom we could then easily secure. This enterprise was executed with the more success, as they suspected noth- ing. The commandant of the detachment was seized at the moment he was taking his tea, but was not at all mal- treated. A young man of Tournai, engaged as super- cargo, and reduced to work as a sailor, explained to him so eloquently the motives that led to our revolt, as he called it, that he allowed himself to be conducted into the hold with his soldiers unresistingly, As for the sailors, they were neutral; a man of Dunkirk only, who was in our plot, took the helm. Night came on, and I wished to lie to, lest we should encounter any guard-ship, to which the sailors would make signals; but the Dunkirker obstinately refused, and we kept on our course, and at daybreak we were under the cannon of a fort near Helvoeteluys. The Dun- kirker then announced his intention of landing to see if we could get on shore safely, and I saw then that we were sold; but it was impossible to recede: signals had doubt- lessly been made, and, on the least movement, the guns of the fort could blow us out of the water. It was com- ulsory then that we should await the event. Soon a at, with twenty men on board, left the shore and ap- proached the sloop: three officers who were in it came on deck, without testifying any fear, although it was the scene of a busy struggle between our comrades and the Dutch sentry, who wanted to free the soldiers from the hold. The first word of the eldest officer was to ask for the ringleader, and all remaining mute, I spoke in French:—*‘' Indeed that there had Baan no plot, but that it was by a simultaneous movement that.we had resolved on throwing off the slavery imposed on us; we had ill- treated no one, as the captain and sailors could testify, who knew it was our intention to have left them in pos- session of the vessel, after we bad landed at Anvers.” I know not what effect my harangue produced, for I was not allowed to finish it; only, whilst we were piled up in the hold, in the place of the soldiers whom we had con- fined there on the previous evening, I heard some one aay to the pilot, “that more than one would swing at the ard-arm next morning.” The sloop was then turned owards Helvoetsluys, and we reached that place the same day, at about four o'clock in the afternoon. In the road- stead was anchored the Heindrack. The commandant of the fort went in his cutter, and in an hour afterwards I was conducted thither also. Ifound there assembled a sort of maritime council, who questioned me as to the geaton beige 'g of the mutiny, and the part I had taken in it. asserted, as I had already done to the fort governor, that having fanee no articles of engagement, I thought myself justified in effecting my escape by any means that presented. I was then ordered to retire, to make way for the young man of Tournal, who had seized the captain. We were looked on as the leaders of the enterprise, and we know that in such cases it is the ringleaders who undergo the punishment, and we were to suffer nothing more or less than hanging; fortunately, the young man, who had had time for consideration, corroborated my statement, and asserted firmly that no one had suggested it, but that the idea had come across us all at the same moment; be- sides, we were quite sure of not being betrayed by our comrades, who showed much concern for us, and swore that if we were condemned, the ship on board which they should be placed, should jump like a rocket; that is, that they would fire the powder zine, although they should be blown up with it; and these were lads who would have dared to do what they ventured to talk about. Whether they feared the resulta of these menaces, and the bad example that it would afford to the sailors of the fleet who had been recruited in a similar way; or whether the council held that we were entrenched behind a ram- part of legitimate defense, in secking to withdraw onr- selves from a compulsory service; they promised to ask for our pardon from the admiral, on condition that we kept our comrades in due subordination, which appeared not to be their favorite virtue. We promised all that they desired, for nothing makes one 80 easy to be per- ees or to promise, as the feeling a cord about one’s neck, These preliminaries agreed upon, our comrades were transferred On board the ship, and went between decks with the crew, whose complement they were to make up: all was done with the greatest order, neither was any complaint heard, nor wus there the smallest disorderly symptom to be repressed. It is right to say, that we were not fll-treated, as we had been on board the brig, where our old friend the boatswain did all with the rope's end in his hand, Besides, by giving the marines instruc- tion in fencing, I was treated with some attention, and was even made bombardier, with a pay of twenty-eight florins per month. Two months passed away thus, whilst the vigilance of the English cruisers would not allow of our quitting anchorage. Phecame reconciled to my new em- ployment, and had no thoughts of leaving it, when news was brought that the French authorities were eae for all Frenchmen who were forming part of the Dutc crews, Researches, however, were continued; they stationed ents at the ports and taverns, who examined those men who landed by permission or otherwise. In one of m excursions, I was apprehended. I have long presery my gratitude for it towards the ship’s cook, who honored me with his personal animosity ever after that [ had found fault with his giving us swipes for beer, and stinking cod for fresh fish. ‘Taken before the commanding officer, I said I was a Dutchman, and my knowledge of the lan- guage sufficed for me to keep up my assertion; and be- sides, I demanded to be taken back to my ship with a guard, that I might procure papers to substantiate ay as sertion, than which nothing could be more natural, A subaltern was ordered to accompan in the skiff that had conveyed me ashore. On getting near the ship, I made my friend, with whom I had been very familiarly, get up alongside first; and when I saw him entangled amongst the rigging, | thrust off aoneeny from the ship's side, calling to the boat's crew to eir and that they should have something to k. We were qatting through the water whilst my subaltern friend was jostled about anon the crew, who did not or pretended not toknow him. On getting ashore, I ran to conceal myself in a house which I knew, deter- mined on quitting the vessel, in which it would be difficult y me, and we set out ry ee ee Ae ee eek Cee =" - = —— for me to appear without being apprehended. My flight would confirm all suspicions raised against me, and there fore the captain gave me his authority, tacitly, to do what I might think best for my own secu rity. A Dunkirk privatcér, the Barras, Captain Fomentin was in the Roads. At this period, vessels of this kind were seldom overhauled, as they were in a measure a sort of asylum; and as it suited me to get on board it, I got a lieutenant, to whom I applied, io introduce me to Fomen- tin, who, on my owu stui. ment, admitted me on board as master-at-arms, Four days afterwards, the Barras set sail for a cruise in the Sound. It was at the beginning af the Winter 1799, when the tempestuous weather destroyed 80 many vessels on the Coast of the Baltic. Scarcely were we at sea, when a northerly wind rose, quite con- trary to our destination. We were compelled to pat about, and the roll of the ship was so great, that I was excessively ill; so much so, that for three days I could take nothing but weak brandy and water, and half the crew were in the same state, so that a fishing-boat might have taken us without our striking a blow. At length the wind abated, and turned suddenly to south-west; and the Barras, an admirable sailer, going ten knots an hour, all hands aboard soon recovered. At this moment, the man at the mast-head cried out, ‘“‘A sail on the larboard tack!” The captain took his glass, and declared it to be an English coaster, under a neutral flag, and which the squalls had separated from the convoy. We bore down on her, with the wind on our bow, At the second discharge of our guns she struck, before we could board her; and pores the crew down into the hold, we made for Bergen n Norway, where our park was soon disposed of. I remained six months on board the Barras, and my share of the prize were pretty considerable, when we wet to lay up for atime at Ostend. We had scarcely got intothe basin, when several Vo agents came on board to ex amine the papers of the crew; and I afterwards learnt that they paid us this unusual visit, in order to detect a murderer who was supposed to be on board. When my turn came for examination, I asserted that | was Auguste Duval, born at l’Orient; and added that my papers were at Rotterdam, in the office of the Dutch ma- rine ie plane gy No notice was taken, and 1 thought, | had well gotrid of the affair. When the three hundred men who were on board had been questioned, eight of us were called, and told that we must go to the register of fice, to give the requisite explanation. Not liking this, | turned off at the first angle of the street, and had already gained thirty yards on the gendarmes, when an old wo. man, who was washing the steps of a house, put her broom between my legs, and I fell. The gendarmes came up to me and put on handcuffs, besides be- laboring me pretty well with the butts of carbines and the flat sides of swords, and I was conducted thus to the commissary, who, after hearing me, asked me if I had not excaped from the hospital of Quimper, I saw that 1 was caught, for there was equal danger as Duval or Vi docq. However,I decided on the first name, which of fered less unfavorable chances of the two; since the road from Ostend to l’Orient is longer than from Ostend to Ar ras, and thus afforded more opportunities for escape. CHAPTER XIL Ereut days elapsed, during which I only once saw the commissary, and was then sent with a party of prisoners, deserters, &c., who were to be conveyed to Lille. It was to be expected that the uncertainty of on" identity would terminate on reaching a city where L had so often dwelt; and therefore, informed that we should pass through that espe I took such precautions that the gendarmes who iad already conducted me did not recognize me; my fea- tures, coneealed under a thick mask of dust and sweat, were, besides, completely altered by the swelling of my cheeks, almost as large as those of the angels which on the frescoes of churches are seen blowing the trumpet of the last judgment. It was in this state that I entered the Egalité, a military prison, where I was to stay for some days, there to charm away the weariness of my seclusion. I risked several visits to_the canteen, in the hope that mingling with the visitors I might find an opportunity of escape. Meeting with a sailor whom I had known on board the Barras, I thought I might make him instrumen- tal to my presecs, I asked him to breakfast with me, and our meal finished, I returned to my chamber, where I re- mained for three hours, reflecting on the means of recovering my liberty, when the sailor came to ask me te share the dinner which his wife had just brought him, The sailor, then, had a wife,—and the thought crossed me, that to elude the vigilance of the mga she might pro- cure me female attire or some disguise. Full of this idea, I went down to the canteen and drew near the table, when I heard a piercin , and a woman fainted. It was my comrade’s wife. ran to raise her—Good heavens, ‘twas Francine! Alarmed at my own imprn- dence, which had allowed an expression of astonishment to escape from me, I tried to repress the emotion which | had unayoidably testified. Surprised and astonished, the spectators crowded round us, and overwhelmed me with enquiries, and, after some moment's silence, I told them that it was my sister whom I had so unexpectedly met. This incident passed without any consequences, and next day at early dawn we set off: and I was in conster- nation at finding that the convoy, instead of following as usual the road to S